


Second Look

by VKiera



Category: Magic Knight Rayearth
Genre: F/M, Gen, Post-Series, Prequel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-07
Updated: 2016-07-01
Packaged: 2018-05-12 08:13:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5659150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VKiera/pseuds/VKiera
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You can't look forward without first looking back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Thing With Feathers

**Author's Note:**

> A small little three part drabble collection with some of the people of Cephiro looking back and also looking forward at what lies ahead. This first chapter was written for dragon of winter nights(Down) for the 2015 MKR Holiday Fic exchange on Tumblr, I've done a few tweeks to it.

 

 _“Hope” is the thing with feathers -_  
_That perches in the soul -_

 

The low rumble of thunder reached him even from where he stood deep within the heart of the castle. There was no escape from the sound, not even here in the throne room as he watched Lantis’ retreating figure down the long hall. A shudder passed through the land, the walls and polished floor quivered against the violent motion. The castle groaned against the strain, but remained firm.

Cephiro’s death throws.

Each lightning strike and the following crack that accompanied it scraped over his heart and mind like claws on bare flesh.

The relentless sound constantly tore away at the still fresh wounds. The regret like a heavy stone low in his stomach.

Zagato.

Emeraude.

Cephiro.

The Magic Knights.

He had known the outcome of the final battle from the beginning. Even so he could not help but feel as if he had failed them all somehow.

It did not matter that he had no other option but to follow the Princess’s wishes. It did not matter that he’d wracked his mind leading up to the final battle trying to think of something. Any other option that did not result in the shattering of so many lives.

In all his long years he had never regretted anything more than the moment he had to greet the Magic Knights and set them on a path to eventually do battle with the Pillar herself.

The fact that the three knights had been children did not help.

There were many times he laid awake trying not to think too much about the fact he sent children to help someone commit suicide.

Clef raised his staff, it felt heavier to him these days, and brought the viewing mirror into focus.

Lantis would be leaving the castle in a few moments and Clef worried for his former student. He was one of the few still alive, at least in this realm. The master mage did not think he would ever again see the three young women who had been some of his briefest, if not most important students.

He returned his thoughts to the exterior of the castle.

Only dissipating, crumbling rock and a violent lightning filled void where the sky had once been remained. Almost nothing was left of the peaceful world Princess Emeruade had given her life for.

The world that Zagato had been willing to destroy to save her.

Now they were both gone and Cephiro was quickly following after them.

What would become of Cephiro and its people if a new Pillar was not found?

Clef knew the answer to that question; despite knowing that answer his heart could not help but also ask another.

What will happen to the next Pillar?

Ha had promised Princess Emeraude that he would guide the Magic Knights and help save this world. But in keeping that promise would he also condemn another to share her fate?

He did not think he could bare watching another person’s heart being torn apart by that duty. Even as he stood and watched Cephrio itself succumb to that fate.

What other choice was there? What hope was there for Cephiro and it’s people?

ooo

Lantis sat just inside the bay opening of the castle, his spirit horse restless beneath him. The horses’ muscles quivered with each breath, alert, ready to spring forward at a moments notice. It shared it’s riders restlessness. The wind outside was cold and stung his exposed skin, there was no warmth left here.

He’d journeyed out every day since his return to Cephiro several months ago. Searching, always searching for the hidden path that lead to the test for the Pillar.

The land outside suddenly shifted violently, large pieces breaking off and disintegrating, throwing boulders up into the void that had once been the sky.

The invisible barrier that covered the threshold shimmered in front of him for an instant. It was reacting to the tremendous upheaval outside and repelling anything that could possibly damage the palace.

It had taken every mage and magic wielder in the palace with the leadership of the Guru to create the barrier and support the castle.

Something Princess Emeraude did everyday, without fail, for years on end, completely alone. Even with all of them together they were no match for even a small fraction of her power.

Power that had come at such an unfathomable price.

One that Zagato had decided she should not have to pay.

Zagato.

His brother was always on his mind, he often thought about the last time they had seen one another. It had been that day Lantis had decided to leave Cephiro.

_“Heading out now Lantis?”_

_He turned at the sound of his brother’s voice. “The monster hunt will be starting soon.” He paused beneath a tree, waiting for Zagato to catch up to him._

_In the distance, far away from the palace gardens a low and faint rumble sounded. They both looked off into the distance. “There have been more lately that I’ve ever seen in my time as Captain.”_

_Zagato’s gaze wavered and then shifted to the grass beneath their feet, the sun was setting, the garden was glazed in a haze of warm orange and pink light. “It is too much Lantis, too much for any one single heart to bare. No matter how strong that heart is”_

_“Brother…” Lantis did not know what to say. Part of his heart had been trying to deny what was right in front of him. He’d have to be blind to miss it, but that part of his heart also knew what would happen if they all stopped denying. The outcome would be painful, no matter what path they chose._

_He was Captain of the guard, it would be his duty to protect Princess Emeraude. No matter what, no matter whom posed a threat to her. Lantis knew he would not be able to choose between his brother and his duty._

_His brother continued to look down at the grass and flowers beneath their feet. He seemed to not be able to bring himself to look up and meet his gaze._

_Lantis knew his brother would have to make a choice soon. No matter which path he chose, someone or something was going to be hurt. He sighed, as least he could make one choice easier for his brother, by making one of his own._

_He turned away and headed for the garden’s exit. Just before passing the threshold he stopped, looking back once more he called out._

_“Brother -”_

_It took a long moment for Zagato to raise his eyes to meet his._

_“If you have something you must do, don’t look back, only look forward.” He held eyes the same shade as his own for a long moment and then turned and never looked back._

_The next morning he was gone from Cephiro._

A sudden sharp crack of lightning brought him back to the present time.

His brother had chosen his own path, he would now do the same. Zagato and the Princess would be the last victims of the Pillar system. He would not allow such a thing to come to pass again.

His spirit horse let out a sharp cry as he dug his heels into it’s side, snapping the reins. The beast plunged forward into the darkness outside the castle.

ooo

Presea sighed heavily as she headed to the throne room, carrying a tray of tea for Clef and the Prince. It was such a strange thing, to refer to Ferio as Prince now, he had never taken up the title during his sister’s reign.

She entered the large throne room doors just as Clef, Ferio and Lafarga were finishing a discussion about the next scouting mission outside the palace. The path to the Pillar had still not been found, once more some of their neighboring nations were heading straight for them. Not only was Cephiro heading for destruction, but also for all out war.

The power of Cephiro’s Pillar proved too tempting for them to resist. If only they knew…

She set the tea down quietly as Lafarga took his leave and left down the hall.

It felt like such a hopeless situation, once again, they were left with a choice that would lead to heartache, one way or another.

Heartache had been all they knew these days. She had not known, until Clef told her, the true duty of the Magic Knights, of the swords she had forged for them. Those dear girls, they had been so good hearted and the weapons she had made them had brought them great grief.

The moment after the Pillar died there had been a great flash of light. Seconds afterwards the Magic Knight’s swords had returned to her and she knew they were gone from this world back to their own.

She had trembled upon taking them, they were still charged with magic from the battle, but also heart rending grief. She could feel it ebb off of them in great waives. The blades slept now, she kept them stored with her at all times, but even after so many months she could still feel them.

A slow, low burning grief that tinted their magic, the last thoughts of the wielders imprinted upon them in a single moment.

She did not know if her heart would be able to bare to make these swords once more. What if, in the future, she had to make swords for new Magic Knights?

Was this sad fate truly doomed to be repeated? Was there no hope for Cephiro’s future?

With shaking hands she began to pour the tea.

ooo

Many hours later, Presea woke with a start. The swords she had stored within her suddenly sprang awake, their magic swarming through her, filling her vision. Calling for their Knights. She stumbled out of her bed, throwing on her clothes before rushing to find Guru Clef.

Lantis looked up from his spirit horse into the empty dark. In the distance a sudden flash of brilliant light flared and dissipated, leaving him pulling up short on his reins to investigate it.

A tremendous amount of magic had just been cast.

Before he could make it to the area he was overtaken by one of Guru Clef’s creatures. The flying fish caught whatever had been falling from the sky and swiftly returned to the palace. He was left wondering what could have caused Clef to summon one of his creatures so suddenly.

The news moved like a ripple through the palace.

The Magic Knights had returned.

Hope returned to the hearts of many. Though many were not sure what this turn of events would bring to bare for Cephiro. But their hearts were lightened, because after all hope is a peculiar thing. It is easy to crush, but almost impossible to kill. It’s most often wished for, but often not looked for. It usually springs up in the most unlikely of places at the most unusual of times.

This time it was born upon the wind, the rush of the tide and in a brilliant light. In its wake three screaming junior high school girls were left falling from the sky. To once again don their legendary titles, stride forth onto the field of battle.

And change a world.


	2. Nostos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lantis reflects one night on why he left Cephiro, why he returned and what he found along the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a rehashing of a much older one shot I originally did back in 2008, though it expands upon some ideas and has been edited heavily. A rare first person POV fic from me.

**Nos·tos**  
 _ˈ **nästōs/**_  
Noun literary  
 _~ a homecoming_

  
When I left Autozam and returned to Cephiro I don’t know what I expected to feel. Grief for my brother, for Princess Emeraude, yes, regret perhaps? The day they met their fate was long in coming. A day I knew was coming even as I left Cephiro. But I thought perhaps after they had passed something I’d lost long before their deaths would return to me.

This strange nostalgic longing I had become more and more aware of as their relationship began to accumulate into the inescapable summoning of the Magic Knights.

The longer the feeling nagged at me the more restless I had become, I didn’t belong here anymore. Towards the end I could hardly look at the two of them without a feeling of dread spreading over me. I knew the choice my brother was going to make and I knew what choice Princess Emearude would make. Who’s wish would prevail would come down to whose will was stronger.

Princess Emeraude had always been so very stubborn, I can’t help but smile just a bit at the memory. Once her mind was made up what came after was always an inevitability.

The will of the Pillar is absolute after all.

I do not know what I would have done if I had stayed.

If I had been forced to choose.

My heart or my duty?

So I left Cephiro, telling myself I was searching for a way to save them, but part of me knew that their fate was already made, that I was searching for something else.

That feeling I’d lost somewhere in-between the realization that Zagoto and the Princess were in love and the time I left them to their chosen fate, that feeling of belonging, of being…

Home.

That sense that I was of Cephiro. That feeling of ease that comes from being somewhere you know you belong. It had been that yearning more than anything that drove me to search the cosmos for something, something that at the time seemed so intangible.

For a time I felt like I’d found part of that in Autozam. With Eagle and Geo and Zazu, but still it nagged me. A subtle yet constant tug that never gave me the peace I desired. After a time I realized I’d never find that peace unless I returned to Cephiro to try and reclaim what I’d lost there.

The cold shoulders I was given upon returning did not bother me, nor the suspicious glances cast my way. I was beyond caring what the others thought of me at the time. I thought if I could just end this, end the Pillar system, that it would all come back to me. That if I gave myself, my brother and the Princess this peace of mind that somehow I could belong somewhere again.

If I lived, at the time I doubted I would, I had every intention of returning to Autozam.

But all of that changed upon my chance encounter with a strange, brash, beautiful girl.

Perhaps it wasn’t chance at all, maybe the Creator sent Hikaru plummeting down onto Clef’s creature once more to not only save Cephiro but save myself as well.

Said redhead was currently asleep, sprawled out on my bed as if she owned it. She stretched in her sleep, not a care in the world, or two worlds for that matter. Mumbling something about someone licking her face, Hikari her dog maybe?

I lift my arm, careful not to wake her, and lightly slide a wispy strand of hair away from her eyes. The corners of her mouth turn up in a smile and she settles back into a deeper sleep.

I don’t think she’ll ever realize that she saved me, that I even needed saving.

Eagle’s always understood my feelings on the matter. Something we both have in common really, being saved by this girl. I’ve spoken to him about it on occasion during his recovery. In part through him I came to understand more completely just how Hikaru gave me back that feeling I’d lost with Zagoto and Princess Emeraude.

I think it was in the garden by the fountain when I first felt it, even if I didn’t completely realize it at the time.

I take a deep breath and lean back.

Loving Hikaru has given me back that sense of belonging I’d lost. It was a strange feeling at first I didn’t realize until later just exactly what to compare it to.

Loving her is like…

Well it’s a lot like coming home.

 


	3. Evening Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ferio walks through the garden and has some thoughts about his sister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short story written for 2016 Royal Ascot week on tumblr : Day 3 Prince Ferio

_“Between one person and another…there is only light”_

The Pillar’s garden was near the lowest level of the palace. Ferio rarely came this way, but he’d just left a rather long diplomatic meeting with Autozam and felt like taking the long way back to the residential wing. The sun was gradually sinking towards the horizon but it’s warmth lingered in the still evening air.

There were numerous gardens in the palace, but this one was perhaps the most grand. Willow like trees sighed and swayed in the breeze, their long whispering limbs weeping into the small ponds and fountains that dotted the interior landscape. Lilies filled the water, the flowers each lit with a magical flame that did not burn, but lit the garden with a soft warm glow from early evening till late morning.

And of course all the flowers were white.

His sister’s favorite.

Even now there wasn’t a day that didn’t pass without her crossing his mind at least once, the sadness of her memory tempered by the joy that now reined over the people. He thought perhaps if she could somehow know how things had turned out, she would be happy, at least he liked to think that.

Before he realized it his feet had taken him to the garden’s center where the largest fountain lay. Smooth white stone, a lone figure of a softly smiling girl, etched the perfect likeness of a face both dearly familiar and yet foreign to him all the same.

The stature looked just as the Princess had always looked, soft, gentle smile, sad quiet eyes. The only prominent memories he had of her were always with that same expression.

He could not recall what she looked like when she laughed, when her eyes shone bright with a joy that at it’s height had made her all that was beautiful in Cephiro.

She truly had been the brightest light in the world, one that outshone all others.

How would things have been different if she had not been? Would knowing what they know now have made any difference? Could they have changed her fate?

He shook his head, chasing the thought away, there was no use wasting time on life’s ‘what ifs’.

A few minutes later he reached the residential wing where a servant told him the others had gone outside to enjoy the evening air.

He stopped upon reaching the large archway leaving the main castle grounds to watch his friends. His detour to the Pillar’s garden had made him the last to arrive.

Eagle and Ascot were already into the scones Umi had baked. The former water knight was currently asking for feedback and trying to keep Eagle out of the basket that contained the rest of the treats by threatening him with a serving fork.

Eagle didn’t look much intimidated.

Fuu was sitting with Caldina and Princess Tatra, the later two seemed to be regaling Fuu with some epic tale, if the size of Fuu’s eyes behind her glasses was any indication. Clef and Presea sat near by sipping tea, though by the small smile on Clef’s face, they were both within ear shot of the story as well.

Lantis stood with Lafarga under a shade tree, both discussing something he couldn’t hear, though they paused when Hikaru dashed past them giggling. Lantis smiled as she went whooshing past.

Hikaru was running at full speed through the long grass, chasing fireflies that danced in the wind, following after her, leaving a trail of glittering gold in her wake. Her laughter filled the air.

Everyone had all paused for a brief moment to look up at her, each one smiling in turn.

Ferio stood unmoving from where he leaned against the archway.

Ah.

That was it.

That was the difference.

Emeraude had been a light so bright that it eclipsed all others around her.

Hikaru was a light that encouraged all other lights around her to glow all the brighter.

Fuu looked up and met his gaze, smiling.

He stepped away to join them, the smell of warm grass and earth filled his senses, laughter drifted around him. The evening sky darkened, the world heaved a gentle sigh as the day ended.

Somewhere, he thought, his sister must be smiling.


End file.
